BS/OD Program

The Seven Year B.S./O.D. Program

The State University of New York, State College of Optometry in conjunction with Wagner College offers a seven–year combined degree program in optometric education. This program is designed for strongly motivated high school graduates, whose primary career goal is optometry. A successful graduate from the program will have a bachelor of science degree from Wagner College and a doctor of optometry from SUNY College of Optometry.

Students interested in the program will apply for the combined degree program before the end of their freshman year. Candidates for the program must have outstanding high school records, with a combined math plus verbal SAT score of 1300 or higher (670 or higher math score), or must have an overall 3.4 GPA and a 3.4 GPA in the sciences.

During the program a student must maintain an overall 3.4 GPA minimum and a math and science minimum GPA of 3.4 with no exceptions. No science or math prerequisite course can have a grade lower than a C.

Other requirements of the student while at Wager College are:

Must be interviewed by a representative of the Office of Student Affairs of the SUNY College of Optometry before the end of their freshman year

Must become well acquainted with the practice of optometry

Must show evidence of community involvement

Must have reasonable communication and interpersonal skills

Meet with an advisor from SUNY College of Optometry at least once per year

To gain entry into SUNY College of Optometry, the student must score at least a 330 total science score on the OAT, with no individual score below 320. The OAT is to be taken during the student's third year at Wagner College. Other requirements are that Wagner College provides a positive letter of recommendation for the students, that the student passes reasonable interview standards, and that the student submits all required application materials. Other requirements include being able to show evidence of community involvement, and to have visited several optometry practices.

After the successful completion of the first year of the optometry program at SUNY the student will receive their bachelor of science degree from Wagner College. On completion of the fourth year of optometry school the student will receive their O.D. degree.

The classes that must be completed by the end of the third year (outside of general education requirements) are: BI213, BI215, BI217, BI219, BI311 CH111, CH112, CH211, CH212, CH517 MI200 PY131, PY132 or PY141, PY142

The following classes are to be taken as part of the general education requirements:MA121, MA109, PS101, EN110.